COPPERAS COVE - Population, income and buying power are key indicators for developers constructing shopping centers.

“I think the thing that most retailers and restaurants are looking for is population (for the trade area),” said David Watson, managing principal Direct Development, which developed the 82-acre site for Market Heights in Harker Heights. “There is a little science of trying to determine what the trade area is.”

Location, traffic and infrastructure are large factors, as well, Watson said, along with the area’s future growth potential determined by new home starts.

Copperas Cove met all those indicators for the developers of Five Hills, said Daniel Campbell, a principal of Endeavor Real Estate. The Austin firm is developing the retail center to its ultimate build-out of 127 acres.

Once finished, improvements to US Highway 190 will help traffic from Killeen and Lampasas enter Five Hills.

The majority of Five Hills property was obtained in a land swap between the Copperas Cove EDC and Fort Hood. Copperas Cove EDC paid an estimated $1.8 million for the installation water and sewer main through Five Hills.

Endeavor Real Estate is set to receive 25 percent of the property tax Five Hills generates for Copperas Cove. The developer also gets 35 percent of sales tax during the agreement’s first five years, increasing to 65 percent of sales tax revenue after ten years.